Pairing one of today’s most gifted jazz guitarists (Anthony Pirog) with one of rock ‘n’ roll’s fiercest rhythm sections (Brendan Canty and Joe Lally) was always going to be a recipe for success, but on their sophomore LP Anthropocosmic Nest, Washington, D.C.’s The Messthetics are blowing past the old goals and delivering one of the most raucous and satisfying releases of the year. Wildly inventive with surprises awaiting the listener at every turn, Nest is an ecstatic proclamation of skronk-and-circumstance that says not only are The Messthetics BACK, but they’re here to stay!

Blitzen Trapper has a new record coming out September 23 (f@#@ yea!!) and our sources tell us that American Goldwing may in fact be the best thing the band has ever done. This should come as no surprise though as almost everything, in our estimation at least, is the best thing they've ever done. Trapper is a band that has never really made misstep in the entirety of their career, and we don't expect them to now. With 3, soon to be 4, Sub-Pop albums under their belt, the band is doing something that a lot of other bands seem to have forgot about these days: they consistently make music. It seems like it's not a year without a Blitzen Trapper record, and that level of prolificness is what being a musician is what it's supposed to be all about my friends.

This track from 2008's Furr, is a perfect example of how the band has learned to maintain the over the top psychedelic freak out sound of their younger days, and still wrap it in, well, a Trappernes, that turns it into a perfect little rock song. Their blend of garage rock urgency and earnest folkitude certainly isn't anything new, but you've rarely, if ever, heard it done quite this well.